Cherries, like most fruits, are best eaten right out of hand. There’s no doubt about that. The next best thing to fresh cherries, as I have recently discovered, would be pickled cherries. I used to reserve that runner-up spot for cherry jam and brandy-preserved cherries. That is no longer the case.
So if you, like me, always find yourself buying more fresh cherries than you can eat in a few days, try pickling them.
In the book, Live to Cook, Michael Symon has included a recipe for refrigerator pickled cherries. Fresh cherries aren’t boiled to death; instead, they simply enjoy a warm, syrupy bath of crimson pickling liquid which has been infused with assorted spices. The cherries are then kept refrigerated, allowing them to stay cool, fresh, firm, and juicy. The result is sweet and tart cherries with the fragrance and flavor of warm, autumnal spices permeating every part of their beings.
I have experimented with different spices and found the five-spice mix to be the best. For this most recent batch, I added a few dried bay leaves (which is not part of the five-spice blend) to the mix and they made that which was already excellent even better. Feel free to use whichever spice blend you like.
According to the recipe, you’re supposed to bring the pickling liquid to a boil, then simmer it for 10 minutes. That was exactly what I did for my first two batches. However, I have found that thicker, more syrupy pickling liquid produces pickled cherries that retain their texture and color better, and are more intense in flavor, not to mention less wrinkly towards the end of their shelf lives. This has led me to reduce the liquid down to approximately 1/3 of its original volume before pouring it over the cherries.
Also, the recipe says the cherries are supposed to be fully submerged. However, I’ve found that even though the amount of the thicker pickling liquid, done my way, is too small to cover all of the cherries, not only does this not jeopardize the quality of the end product, it also enhances it. And if you wonder how you can pickle something without fully submerging it in pickling liquid, be assured that upon standing the salt in the liquid will draw out the natural juices from the cherries and within a few hours you will see more liquid in the jar than you initially put in it and your cherries will be fully submerged eventually.
The last tweak is that I use my homemade cherry vinegar in the pickling liquid. The original recipe calls for red wine vinegar which works beautifully. I just wanted to go all cherry all the way.
How do I love use these pickled cherries? Let me count the ways.
I:
I’m sure there are several other uses which I have not explored. If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
Pickled Cherries with Five-Spice Blend
Adapted from Pickled Cherries by Michael Symon‘s Live to Cook
Makes 2 quarts
Printable Version
2 lbs sweet or sour cherries, stems and pits intact
3 cups (24 fl. oz.) cherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns
3 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
3 pieces of star anise
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
Cherry vinegar is a great idea! The flavor of the pickled cherries with it must be amazing. I like the idea of reducing the syrup more too. I’ll do that next time.
not even sure how to say “load me up” or whatever other “gimme” phrase to let you know that I so completely want to taste these cherries!
“Load me up” works for me, Christo!
I love the idea of pickled cherries and must make them really soon!
Do you know a way to make this last longer? This seems like the perfect holiday gift, and cherries are only in season here for another week or two. I’d love to use seasonal cherries if there was a way to make the pickled cherries last longer.
cleverbean – That crossed my mind too. The only way to make this last longer is to process the cherries in sterilized jars and seal them using the hot water canning method. I’m kind of apprehensive about canning a recipe the pH level of which has not been proved suitable for canning. (Botulism and all that, you know …) Besides, the beauty of this recipe is that it’s a refrigerator/quick pickling method which results in the texture of the fresh fruit being largely retained. Canning may take away those benefits.
But you may want to give it a try. I know homemade maraschino and brandied cherries can be canned. As for the pH level, I’ve told that adding 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid to each 1-pint jar increases the acidity to a safe level. Can’t confirm, though.
One thing I know for a fact won’t work is to freeze whole cherries then pickle them months from now. That drastically changes the texture of the cherries.
So that’s what I can do with all those cherries I keep buying. The best part is…I don’t even have to pit them first.
Gosh darn this looks so good. We are in winter at the moment, so cherries are out of season. I can’t wait for summer though; I so look forward to trying these!
What an interesting idea! I’ve been playing around with a pickled grapes idea for the last little while, I imagine pickled cherries would be great!
Do the peppercorns give them quite a bit of zip?
Dana – Not so much unless you crack them. Glad you mentioned that, because I think there’s something about these pickled cherries that makes them go very, very well with things that are peppery, spicy. These and cheeses that have spicy add-ins such as cracked pepper are so delicious together
Go ahead and crack those peppercorns.
What an absolutely delicious sounding treat! Unfortunately we fall into the camp that we get cherries and they are quickly devoured. I’ll just have to buy extra and hide them so I can make this dish.
I wonder what sort of a shelf like they have? I’d be interested in possibly canning some to enjoy during the winter months. How beautiful would these be on a pork roast?
Pickled cherries are undoubtedly as delicious as they are beautiful in your photos!
I don’t think I’ve had pickled fruit before, except for Indian lime pickles. The spice blend sounds lovely, and something sweet and sour is perfect with cheese.
Hello, just discovered your Blog here in Luxembourg.
Great recipe. In France we use cherries with a lot of savoury dishes and mostly roasted pork as Oysterculture mentions or more famously DUCK(absolute winner !). The tartness of the pickle balances the greasy meats very well and the colours are a treat. I have added powdered cocoa in mine as well to add the lovely sirupy velvety touch and little bitterness i enjoy. Still have to try it though but it needs a few days on the shelf to get all these flavours mixing !
Great to have all you thaï recipes as well ! Keep the good work on the she indexes front !
Mélanie
Melanie – Thanks. The addition of cocoa sounds really, really good!
I found another recipe for sweet pickled cherries and you pack the jars with cherries. Boil the vinegar/sugar and spice solution then pour into the jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Will definetly be trying this as my oldest daughter loves pickles